Bettencourt is France's richest female resident. She is daughter of L'Oreal founder Eugene Schueller, a man who is said to have a checkered past with wartime ties to the Nazi regime. Liliane retains a controlling stake in the cosmetics giant. Pet cause: the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, which awards the Liliane Bettencourt Prize for Life Sciences to a European researcher under the age of 45. The winner, along with his or her team, is awarded $300,000 to do research in biology or medicine.